Alex was glad to be back home and working at the clinic. Carmen had blamed herself for what happened on their vacation. It wasn't her fault. She had tried to please everyone, but that was impossible. She had planned their vacation, budgeting both time and money. He was the one responsible because he didn't want to take the time away from the clinic. He had thought he spent enough time with his children until he was forced to accept the idea that there might be no future for them.
He had thought that the best years of his life were gone, but they weren't. The best was yet to come. It wasn't the number of years a person lived that made life important. It was the way they lived the years they had.
Of course, he was right about not having to travel a thousand miles to enjoy a vacation, but Carmen was right about the fact that he wouldn't leave the clinic behind any other way. He had fallen into the vacation procrastination trap. If a person didn't make the time to be with their family, it would never happen. There would always be something that would be a higher priority. The clinic had flourished without him for two weeks. Sure, they had been short-handed, and that was his fault. The clinic had needed another veterinarian for a long time and he had been putting it off. If Carmen had told him it was because he insisted on doing everything, he would have told her she was wrong. It wasn't a conscious thought, but she was right. He was trying to convince himself that he wasn't getting old. Unfortunately, the harder he worked, the older he felt. He loaded his schedule to the point that he couldn't possibly remember everything, but worst of all, he had neglected his family.
He had convinced himself that he was doing it all for his family - for their security. He had been measuring security in dollars, but it wasn't money that saved them in the desert. It was everyone working together.
It was a miracle that they all survived unharmed. It could have been so much worse. He had been given another chance and he wasn't going to waste it. Carmen, with her endless compassion, had come up with an excellent way for them to enjoy their vacation time - sharing with those who had no hope of enjoying travel otherwise. Some people would walk away with their experience thinking that was the last vacation they ever wanted to take - or even being fearful of including others because of the possible dangers. Carmen saw the good and the potential. He would never have thought of something so simple and giving.